For Anthony Carter, $75,000 wasn’t asking too much. In fact, it was just fine.

Carter, the Nuggets guard with a broken hand, paid $75,000 to terminate his contract last season with Legea Scafati Basket of the Italian League after just two months of service in an effort to get back to the United States.

“That was a terrible experience,” Anthony said. “I wouldn’t wish that on nobody, and I’m not planning on going back over there.”

No, Carter wasn’t in need of a McDonald’s on every corner. But heat not requiring a propane tank might have been nice. The language barrier was an annoyance. Sideways stares from locals were frustrating. One game per week with six practices grew tiresome. Nine-hour bus rides to games were flat-out grueling.

The good? Well, the money he earned was tax-free.

“Yeah,” Carter said. “It’s tax- free money, but that tax-free money don’t mean nothing when you’re out of your comfort zone. I was out of my comfort zone for two months, and I was anxious to get back. I told the team I’ll pay the $75,000 to get out from over there. I took a chance of coming back home and Denver picked me up.”

It was a big chance.

Carter, who had played with Miami, San Antonio and Minnesota before his overseas stint, paid the fee without an NBA team to come back to. He had some contact with the Nuggets, but nothing solid.

“Once I got back, I didn’t know if they were going to pick me up for the playoffs or not,” Carter said. “But I knew that my agent was talking to them. So, I was taking a chance of coming back and not playing and losing that $75,000.”

But then things worked out.

The Nuggets signed him at the end of regular season and played him in Game 5 of their first-round postseason series against San Antonio. Carter responded with eight points, hitting all four of his shots, and played solid defense. That prompted coach George Karl to lament not using him earlier in the series. The Nuggets re-signed Carter in August to a one-year contract worth $1.1 million.

“Luckily I got the call in the playoffs and I played well in the game that I did play,” Carter said. “So everything kind of worked out and put me in a great position for this season.”

This season, he is as close to a perimeter defensive stopper as the Nuggets have, though his impact will be delayed for three weeks. He is expected to return as soon as Nov. 10.

“Anthony Carter especially has probably made his career by playing defense,” Karl said.

And that’s the way Carter intends for it to stay.

“That’s my main goal,” he said. “To get everybody on the same page on defense.”

Karl has nearly an entire season to fit him in.

“I come in, work hard, try to get everyone to work hard, be a leader, and get into the guys that need the extra work, that need to be pushed,” Carter said. “If they see me out there doing it and if I see them not doing it, that’s my job to get into them. So that’s the way I’ll approach everybody the same way. If I can do it, they can do it.”

Four assistant basketball coaches at Division I schools and a top Adidas executive were among 10 people charged Tuesday with crimes including bribery and fraud as part of a wide-ranging federal investigation into corruption in college basketball.

CenturyLink, the telecommunications company that ended its sponsorship agreement with Broncos linebacker Brandon Marshall because of his protests during the national anthem last year, said it will not terminate its agreement with current client Emmanuel Sanders.